october 9, 2012. we are in the middle of publicyr comment. and i want to thank everyone for your patience, as well as fors$s maintaining relative order in line. i know we had our first speaker, who i and i do know there were a couple of seniors and disabled overflow rooms, including at front. we may be able to prioritize, i appreciate your courtesy for that. i would mention to individuals in the overflow room if you wish

to speak the line outside has gotten much shorter so feel free to make your way down to the main board chamber. let's hear from our next speak speaker. >> good evening, supervisors. my name is josé morales. i think you know me. and i'm very happy to be here because, for the first time in my life, in over 20 years that i've been coming here, i notice that people are really reacting and they do want to remind you that we are trying to let you understand that we defend the will of the voters, and we are not going to accept any of the -- from the mayor ed lee. and this is a joke here, as you

can -- it on. yeah. where we see how hard we can -- to get the avalos, and then here, ross mirkarimi, of course our great star, and john avalos again. because the continued renters alert for evictions, and that's why we want to let you know that and support us. well, b,é anyway, i know i put e other!)v but my -- i have a letter of su# the cultural office. and you will,4[úá also would lio read what i said if i don't -- if you don't understanduhu0l me. the following are my most

importanto' messages. please respect and protect the will of theo8lv voters. and please respect and protectâ ross, eliana and -- mirkarimi. they have been&1" abused and yu should not let this abusebue continue. >> president chiu: thank you thank you very much. it goes fast.i zif and i need to enforce the two minute rule so that every member to speak. appreciate your respecting that time limit. thank you. katherine howard. to make. i have worked with ross mirkarimi on city issues. i believe he will be annr/hi excellent sheriff. i encourage you to reinstate

him. i am appalled by the witchó2mot in the press. it is a disgrace. anyone in this room that had to stand up to this, it wouldse>éxe very, very difficult so i want you to think about that. thirdly, if you supervisors are really serious about ethics, you double standard in the way ross' case has been treated. he should be reinstated. thank you.

>> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> thank you for taking all of this time, and this is a long hearing, i know for all of you. my name is lindsey -- you will notice it's about 40 or 50-1 at least indr8i5m of for ross' reinstatement. grassroots that votes and organizes. you've seen people from local organizations. and so i really doubt that polling. andb)j!g i've even noticed the chronicle which started the responsive because of the strange, the few people that haveéi spoken out seem to e sympathetic toi]ã domestic vioe issues. there's some hypocrisy and a(bul

tragic disconnect here when they won't respect eliana andtí"÷ her son. think of how she feels. she department knol&hç didn't ky machine politics in american citizens. neighbor started the ball rolling,c! think how tragic its for her and her son and theó7óob hypocrisy, people claiming to care about the family, and then to purse cuteoé?p@ her. and to ignore her, and largely she's been ignored. and then i ha$" who's part ofs

was revealed, it occurred to me that there was more to this than

ross mirkarimi decided to plead to misdemeanor, false imprisonment. it seemed a case against him was settled and he was willing to listening to eliana. removed him from office without pay for official misconduct. this was an unprecedented decision madeuuá÷ by an executie official in the history of san francisco politics. one individual. no official misconducl occurred while he was in office as sheriff. by his action, ed lee has suppressed my vote. i decided then to work to reinstate ross mirkarimi, to his elected office as sheriff. i have since become friends with both ross mirkarimi and elian eliana -- excuse me and their son, theo.

they're a loving couple. i call on you to do the right thing and vote to reinstate ross mirkarimi. reinstate my vote. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> supervisors, my name is ed cinchly. i live and vote in district 9. am very happy to have an excellent supervisor in district 9. last week, the elected delegates of service employees international union local 1021, which represents 13,000 workers here in san francisco, voted to ask you to vote to reinstate ross mirkarimi as sheriff. this is not an easy decision or discussion for us. many of us, including myself, have worked with domestic violence victims for most of our

careers. i just retired after 18 years of working as social worker in the emergency room at san francisco general hospital and spent many working hours trying to help domestic violence victims including getting some of them into places like la casa shelter. but our members, after long discussion, made it very clear that we feel that the mayor has been using this charter section in an unprecedented way to attempt to remove a more progressive elected official from office. and so our members are asking you to vote to reinstate him. in my training, which was given to me, and many of my coworkers around domestic violence training, were taught that you first take into consideration what the victim wants. we're appalled that that has not happened, that the wishes of

eliana in this case have been ignored. please reinstate ross mirkarimi as our elected sheriff. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good evening, president chiu, supervisors. my name is maria gee ann. and it's worth repeating, theyf& punishment doesn't fit the crime. it is clear that ross, hisii?q e eliana, and their child, theo, have been punished beyond whatçñ we may want to even admit to. the loss of timeyçñ together, ls of income, loss of sleep, the loss of joy for just ordinary days. áui1% the punishment doesn't end there. in, and/or trying to build san francisco have also beenbqv punished by these proceedings against ross and his family.

beyond the loss of so much public funds, is to see people that were once friends are now at odds with each other. community allies are at odds in discrediting one another when there is still so much work we all need to do together. many of you are also not escaping negative consequences. i can only appreciate the turmoil you are in. long-standing relationships in jeopardy because we couldn't bridge our different perspectives. the punishment doesn't fit the crime. but even more importantly, it is causing more pain than any of us deserve. reinstate ross as our sheriff. in hopes that theo can be able to witness the power of redemption and live a life enhanced by restorative justice. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> hello. my name is vivian imperili

speaking as a worker on my own private individual time. you begin each meeting with the pledge of allegiance, affirming your belief in liberty and justice for all. these are basic tenets of the american way yet oddly revoked in the case of ross. liberty, the the freedom to live in your own home with the family !mfé bring home a paycheck, all this was stripped away from ross. no home, no job, no money. and in the cruelest move of all, no family. justice, the expectation to be treated fairly, to have due process, to be judged by unbiased citizens. instead, false charges abounded. there is no justice in declaring a man guilty from day one when our guiding principle asserts

innocence until proven guilty. there was no justice when the mayor removed our duly elected sheriff. the ethics commission, appointed by officials intent on removing ross became this inappropriate jury, and now he sits before you. electorate who put him in office. only we should have the power to remove him. and we know he did nothing to preclude being a fine sheriff. no mayor should have9j7÷ñ the unilateral authority to remove an elected official. you musto]ññt allow this to stad and set a dangerous precedent. allegiance you're agreeing to its truth. take that pledge as seriously as liberty and justice for all. restore what has been stolen from ross, and from the voters who elected[ç him. reinstate rossy.

>> president chiu: thank you. nextjh speaker. >> hello. you for your continued attentiveness. i knowl

i really implore you all to recognize that, and not to be afraid that since the word domestic violence has been thrown out there, that you would be setting some sort of -- sending the wrong message by voting for what's right despite the fear of being seen as standing for domestic violence which is utterly ridiculous and anyone can see that that's not the case here. none of us are standing for domestic violence. we do stand with ross, and we really appreciate your willingness to listen to us, and to -- your continued openness to the possibility of redemption, not only for the sheriff, but for us as the people. i stand here as a survivor. i stand here as a woman, as a proud, queer, flam oint and boisterous woman and implore you to restore ross mirkarimi to his elected office and support him

in his dedication to uphold and further the restorative justice foundation set by his predecessor. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good evening, board of supervisors. i am against domestic violence. i think women in our society are our mothers and sisters and our daughters, and need to be protected. i think in case of ross, if you have a little bit discussion, and your wife is leaving without listening, if you grab her and -- and it makes a mark, that is not domestic violence. i've been charged for domestic two or three felony and give me a bargain. you accept the misdemeanor or you go to court.

misdemeanor. and i went to court, and !.=÷ pd my innocence. but it took lots of pain and lots of effort, and lots ofçdáu money, and lots of energy. i think rossçkcb tried to save s [53&unity, from accepting this and say, you know, he'sa/

disappointed in mayor when he did not go with his promise. and, you know, run and took your choice away, and also yours. and, you know, i think we should honor the people's choice. >> president chiu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> good evening. thank you for this opportunity. my name is oscar james, i'm a native resident of bayview hunters point born and raised there. i've been voting since 1966. i'm a property owner. i'm also if you would say a domestic violent person, if ross is a domestic violent person, i once grabbed my wife's arm when we were on our honeymoon like you are now. i've been married 46 years. three years into my marriage, me and my wife got into a argument.

i grabbed her arm and i found out she gets bruised just like ross mirkarimi's wife got bruised. but out of that time -- and i don't classify that as being domestic violence. i don't know how you guys look at it being you're doing ross' way i see how you look at it. all this time that's the only time i've put my hands on my wife. yes we get in arguments but i've learned to go downstairs. my best friend is my wife. that's his best friend. his son is going to end up being his best friend as a son. let them live their life. let him become the sheriff that we need him to be for the city and county of san francisco. all of those who have done wrong, you know if you vote] fy against him, and not let him come into being the sheriff, and you know you've done wrong, no man or no woman has lived in this life and haven't done

wrong. give this man his job back, you have taken too much from him already. him, they say two -- three out of twodx/ peos voted to remove him. who are the three because they didn't come and ask me/#u;ñ any. are you scared to come to hunter's point? speaker. >> hi. my name is -- i'm here to support ross and his family. two years ago, i met ross and and a neighbor, who every older personçfnfñ or young person in neighborhood, he's befriended everyone thatqawát come across. and he's a very nice man. and i come here personally to tell you that80j6 he's a great, and his family has suffered a so you know he has been with